HOW THE BLUE DEVILS WON: Duke was very fortunate to hang on and beat Virginia.

Duke's Rasheed Sulaimon, the star of the night for the 20th-ranked Blue Devils, bounced in a corner three-pointer with 19 seconds remaining to give the home team a two-point advantage. A bad pass and a bad shot followed by Virginia, and the Blue Devils survived, 69-65.

A furious Virginia rally in the final minutes gave Duke quite a scare after the Blue Devils played very well for most of the game, securing a victory they badly needed.

Duke entered the game ranked 246th nationally in field-goal percentage defense. But it defended Virginia well throughout – at least until the final few minutes – stifling the Cavaliers with half-court pressure.

It took nearly five minutes for Virginia to score its first points. The Cavaliers turned the ball over three times on their first six possessions. Virginia failed to finish on a number of makeable shots.

Duke found early success with offensive rebounding, converting five of them into five second-chance points. Duke played 11 players in the first half. Coach Mike Krzyzewski's substitution patterns looked like line changes in hockey – five in, five out.

At the end, a sigh of relief for Duke.

STAR WATCH: The player of the night for Duke was Sulaimon, who has struggled mightily all season. Against Virginia, Krzyzewski started freshman Matt Jones, who was averaging fewer than eight minutes per game, in place of Sulaimon, and it turned out to be just the right move to spark the sophomore from Houston.

WHAT THIS MEANS IN A NUTSHELL: The ACC is the most disappointing conference in the country considering the heightened preseason expectations for the expanded league. The fifth-strongest league in the eyes of the RPI is home to several teams that have underwhelmed thus far this season, including Duke and Virginia.

The Blue Devils needed this game more than the Cavaliers. It was a home game, and it came after this weekend's surprising loss to Clemson, which is not expected to make the NCAA tournament.

Duke has a number of issues, most notably a lack of a true interior presence. A more fast-paced brand of basketball this season was expected to help compensate for that issue. But it has not exactly worked out that way. Where the Blue Devils finish in this unpredictable league is a sizeable question at this point.

Syracuse, with point guard Tyler Ennis playing as well as any freshman, is the class of the league. Pittsburgh is a team that could play into the NCAA tournament's second weekend. After that, it's more uncertain than expected. Duke will play back-to-back road games against Pittsburgh (Jan. 27) and Syracuse (Feb. 1). Those games will speak volumes about whether the Blue Devils can challenge for the ACC regular season title.

Virginia remains a formidable squad that should compete in the NCAA tournament. The Cavaliers showed a good amount of toughness in rallying in the game's final minutes.

TWEET THAT SPEAKS VOLUMES: Krzyzewski made quite a few substitutions against the Cavaliers.

For each team, Ken Pom now breaks down most frequent lineup combinations. I think his Duke page blew up tonight

AND-1: One recognizable name continued to struggle offensively: Duke freshman Jabari Parker, arguably the best player in the nation during the season's first two months, has for the most part struggled shooting in ACC play, and Monday's game was no different.

Eric Prisbell, a national college basketball reporter for USA TODAY Sports, is on Twitter @EricPrisbell.